Striker plate for door locks



W, SVJALLOW STRIKER I LATE FOR DOOR LOCKS July 23, 1940.

Filed Oct. 20, 1957 //w/7f0r 7 William Jwailow f or/way Patented July 23, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application October 20, 1937, Serial No. 169,947 In Great Britain October 21, 1936 2 Claims.

This invention relates to striker plates for door locks.

With road or rail vehicle door locks at the present time it is customary toprovide a striker plate formed with a main catch and a safety catch, which latter may be integral with the main catch, for example, the striker plate may be a hot brass stamping, or formed as a separate catch, housed within the main catch, and mount ed resiliently with respect thereto. One of the disadvantages of this type of striker plate, particularly for road vehicle locks, is that when the door is shut, the engagement of the lock bolt with the striker plate creates a considerable noise and the object of this invention is to overcome this disadvantage and to provide a striker plate which facilitates or eases the engagement of the lock bolt therewith.

This is achieved according to the present in- 20 vention by arranging or forming the striker plate such that its surface or a part of its surface engaged by the lock bolt and which includes the main and safety catches, is resilient with respect to the door jamb. g- Preferably the striker plate is made of spring steel formed for attachment to the door jamb and having a surface portion including main and safety catches which portion is capable of a degree of movement when struck by the lock bolt. 30 The spring steel plate may have fiat portions for attachment to the door jamb and bent up from said flat portions a main catch portion, the plate being then bent to present the requisite engaging surface and a safety catch portion, the 35 forward edge of the strikerplate, or that edge first engaged by the lock bolt being free and the rearward edge, or that which presents the main catch, being fixed with respect to the anchorage portions, so that as the lock bolt first engages 40 the striker plate it meets a resilient resistance during its retraction, then as it rides over the safety catch there is further resilient resistance and the impact of the bolt on the striker plate is diminished, and finally it engages behind the 45 fixed main catch.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, of which Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form; Figure 2 is a section through a vehicle door post and door showing the striker 50 plate of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the invention; and Figures 4 and 5 are respectively sections on the lines 66 and 1-1 of Figure 3.

Hereinafter will be described examples of 55 striker plate embodying main and safety catch engaging portions, but it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto.

As shown in Figures l and 2 the striker plate is formed from spring sheet steel to comprise a main anchorage plate II from which is bent up 5 firstly the main catch engaging portion IQ for the lock bolt 2| (shown in the fully closed position in full lines in Figure 2 and in the position of first engagement with the striker plate in dotted lines) the plate is then bent to present the main striking surface l3 directed towards the plate II, the safety catch portion l4 and the first engagement surface I5, the end l6 of the plate being arranged to lie clear of the attachment portion I I to permit of a limited movement of the surfaces [3 and 15, in effect pivoting or springing from the catch engaging portion I2, in a direction parallel with the direction of retraction of the lock bolt 2|.

In Figure 2, the striker plate is shown screwed to a post 22 Whilst the lock bo1t2l moves in a slot formed in the jamb face 23 of the door 24.

Figures 3, 4 and 5 show a preferred form of the invention. The striker plate here consistsof a stamped or dished one-piece member 3| hav- 25 ing edge flanges 32 normal to the general plane of the plate, the plate being formed with a main catch engaging portion 33, a safety catch portion 34 and striking surfaces 35 and 36. Parallel slots 31 are cut into the plate so that the striking surfaces and 36 are movable to a limited degree substantially about the line b, b joining the ends of the slots 31. Countersunk holes 38 provide for attachment of the plate to the door post. After slotting the plate at 3! the surfaces 35 and 35 .36 encompassed by these slots are arranged to be slightly out of alignment with, or upstanding slightly from, the general plane of the plate 3i so that the edge 39 of the surface 36 stands clear of the rear edges of the flanges 32 thus permitting a limited degree of movement of the surfaces 35 and 36 when engaged by the lock bolt.

In the foregoing examples, their resilient action absorbs the shock of the lock bolt engaging the striker plate, which results in quieter door closing.

I claim:

1. A striker plate for door locks comprising a stamped metal plate formed near its one edge with a catch for a lock bolt and with the striking surface for such bolt, said striking surface being of said catch to said base member and resiliently" supported thereby, said two members extending generally in the same direction from their connecting region toward the leading edge of said striker member, i. e., the edge that first becomes engaged by the lock bolt.

WILLIAM SWALLOW. 

